I have a small (25 mm diameter) brass embossed
tool check which I would like some help identifying. This check was fastened
onto one of the metal pillars of a Patterson type A3 miners flame safely lamp
with a piece of rusty wire.

The token was obviously originally intended as a "TOOL CHECK" but I suspect
ended up being used as a lamp issuing token. The check is stamped with the
number "967" plus an unusual patterned counter mark together with in an
embossed circle containing the letters;

BT-H

Any further information about this
check would be greatly appreciated.

Submitted By :
Anthony Gilks.

Date:
December 2005.

REPLY No.1

The initials on
this check "B T-H" are almost certainly those of British Thomson-Houston
1892-1967. They were a major electrical engineering company producing
everything from Steam Turbines to light bulbs and even mine locomotives.

I have a similar
brass check also 25mm diameter with the same peculiar punched logo. This logo
may be of significance specifically to one of the company's many plants. The
BTH factories, of which there were many, included Coventry, Birmingham,
Willesden, Chesterfield, Lutterworth, Rugby and Larne.

Submitted By :
Bill Marriott.
Date: December 2005.

REPLY No.2

The following
company history is taken from Marconi's official web site. It would appear
that the remnants of British Thompson-Houston where taken over by GEC in 1967
and ultimately became a part of Marconi.

The foundations of British Thomson-Houston (BTH) were
laid in 1886, when a London firm Laing, Wharton and Down was formed to exploit
in the United Kingdom the sale of products made by the American Electric Co.
(which became the Thomson-Houston Electric Company in 1892). It had an office
in Bankside, London and one of its first contracts was incandescent lighting
for the eastern part of the City of London. This firm became part of British
Thomson-Houston Ltd. when it was formed in 1896 with the capital held mainly
by American Thomson-Houston (part of GE of America) and partly by British and
French bankers. With offices at 38 Parliament Street, Westminster, the new
company no longer acted as an agent as it had acquired patents and exclusive
manufacturing rights from the American company. In May 1896 the company became
firmly established when its name was changed to The British Thomson-Houston
Company Ltd.

One of the first major undertakings by BTH was to promote a parliamentary bill
to form ‘The General Power Distribution Company’. This bill, if passed, would
allow the Company rights to provide electricity to regions of Derbyshire,
Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and West Riding, Yorkshire. Though the bill was
unsuccessful, the Power Act of 1900 enabled BTH and British Westinghouse to
obtain new contracts involving power supply to large areas.

Rugby became the heart of BTH production due to its
geographical location with good accessibility by rail and local coal supply.
In 1900, Glebe Farm was purchased for £10,000, from Thos. Hunter & Co., as a
site for new works. Manufacturing began in March 1902 with a factory floor
space of 206,000 sq. ft. Heavy equipment was the primary output of the site
with priority given to steam turbines, motors, converters and switchgear. In
1902 BTH obtained the rights for the Curtis steam turbine. The plant at Rugby
produced its first turbo-alternator in 1905 and in 1907 BTH engaged in a joint
venture with Wolseley Motors to construct petrol-electric buses. 1909 saw the
Company involved in providing electrical equipment for the first trolley buses
in London. From its time of origin the Company was connected with the
manufacture of incandescent lamps. In 1911 they obtained all the GE patents
for drawn-wire tungsten filaments and the Mazda trade mark. The Company’s
profits reached their zenith in 1913, almost certainly due to the growth in
the lamp business, soaring to £400,000 (before tax) in 1919.

Before the First World War the administration of BTH was under the direction
of three Americans: Howard C. Levis, William Clardy Lusk and Harry Sporborg.
Howard C. Levis became chairman of BTH in 1916 and was made chairman of AEI in
1928, retiring a year later. William Clardy Lusk and Harry Sporborg were to
remain prominent figures in the company after it's amalgamation with AEI in
1928. Lusk was chairman of BTH in 1929 and became a leading figure in AEI
until his death in 1944. Harry Sporborg became a director in 1910 and replaced
Lusk as chairman in 1944.

The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 placed a considerable
strain upon many British electrical firms. BTH was no exception, though the
main output from its factories consisted primarily of non-military products.
The development of marine apparatus for naval service was the Company’s most
significant contribution in assisting the war at sea. The 1920s was a period
of vast expansion for BTH with new extensions built at many existing factories
such as Willesden, Birmingham, Chesterfield and Lutterworth. BTH also made
significant advances in domestic appliances during this period. The main
strength of the company was its lamp business which continued to flourish,
whilst the radio manufacture made low returns.

In 1926, Gerard Swope, the president of General Electric of America proposed
that BTH, Westinghouse, GEC and English Electric should amalgamate. Lord Hirst
of GEC was not interested in Swope’s scheme and his ambitious plan resulted
merely in the merger of BTH and Metrovick in 1928. It was during this period
of confusion that BTH obtained two small but significant British electrical
companies, Ferguson Pailin and Edison Swann. These companies were to be
submerged with BTH and Metrovick in the merger with AEI in 1929. BTH, like
many of the leading electrical firms, suffered badly during the Depression of
the 1930s relying on the profits from its lamps to help the company through
the world-wide economic crisis.

The outbreak of the Second World War allowed BTH to maximise its profits and
the company’s main achievement lay in aircraft. BTH and Metrovick,
independently of each other and without Government assistance, were the first
two companies in the world to construct jet engines in 1935. The BTH team
achieved this task using centrifugal compressors developed by Sir Frank
Whittle, regarded as the inventor of the jet engine. BTH’s success in the
field of aircraft was further enhanced when in 1938 it secured seventy per
cent of the shares in Westland Aircraft. BTH failed to capitalise commercially
upon the jet engine claiming that it could not afford to redirect resources
away from electrical goods.

Due to the lack of commercial enthusiasm required to exploit their inventions,
and the historical rivalry between BTH and Metrovick, both companies suffered
at the hands of competitive American firms. Despite this, the BTH factories at
Coventry, Birmingham, Willesden, and Chesterfield were effective in
co-ordinating their resources to assist the Allies in their struggle for
supremacy in the air. By providing substantial amounts of equipment for the
RAF's fighter aircraft such as magnetos, compressors, and starting switches,
the Company contributed to the outcome of the Battle of Britain in 1941. BTH
also played a significant part in the development of radar. Equipment provided
by the company contributed to the sinking of the German battle cruisers "Scharnhorst"
and "Bismarck". A new torpedo factory was constructed at Rugby during the war
years. Further achievements for the war effort included the development of the
electrically propelled torpedo and the anti-acoustic mine device.

The succession of Captain Oliver Lyttelton (created Lord Chandos in 1954) as
chairman of AEI in 1945 was to be exceptionally advantageous to BTH. Chandos’
expansionist nature and keen eye for investment allowed BTH to embark upon
several important projects. The most well-known was at Larne in Northern
Ireland, where BTH constructed the largest turbine works in Europe, costing £8
million pounds and completed in 1957. Much to the resentment of Metrovick, the
company also secured the contract for the Buenos Aires power station, valued
at £35 million. BTH’s success was further established in the manufacture of
turbo-generators and in the realm of domestic appliances, especially in the
1950s. During his second term as chairman of AEI (1954-1963), Lord Chandos
began a period of internal reorganisation in the hope of making the company
more efficient following recent poor financial performance. Though he was a
major player in the revitalisation of AEI after 1945, Chandos was unsuccessful
in eliminating the rivalry between BTH and Metrovick. More significantly, his
drive for the unification of AEI was to result in the familiar names of
British Thomson-Houston and Metropolitan Vickers being abolished from the
electrical world on January 1st, 1960. This decision was considered essential
for the regeneration of AEI as Lord Chandos pledged to re-establish the
Company’s dominance in the electrical market. The decision to remove the
familiar names backfired and AEI experienced a further drop in profits and a
decline in shares.

Reorganisation, unprofitability and the continuing "MV.v BTH." antagonism did
not help AEI through this unstable chapter in its history. The designs for
recovery initiated by Lord Chandos fell short of their intended targets, and
the structural weaknesses in the Company were to remain unresolved until AEI
was absorbed into GEC’s expanding electrical empire in 1967.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"BTH Reminences
sixty years of Progress"Compiled by H. A. Price-Hughes.The British
Thomson-Houston Company Limited.